Aquatic Facility Safety Assessments
The Aquatic Facility Safety Assessment (AFSA) is Royal Life Saving Australia’s nationally recognised safety and compliance assessment for pools and aquatic facilities. It helps pool owners, operators and local councils gain an independent, expert view of safety performance, legislative compliance and risk management aligned with the Guidelines for Safe Pool Operations, relevant Australian Standards, and state and territory regulations.
Service overview
Since 1996, the Royal Life Saving Australia Aquatic Facility Safety Assessment (AFSA) has provided pool owners and operators with expert, independent assessments of aquatic facility operations against the Guidelines for Safe Pool Operations, Australian Standards and relevant state and territory legislation.
Updated annually by a panel of safety and operational experts, the AFSA is a practical way to benchmark safety and compliance, identify operational gaps, and prioritise risk controls to reduce the likelihood and consequence of aquatic-related injury and death.
AFSA benefits:
- Benchmark safety and compliance against current industry standards and best practice
- Receive independent, expert advice on facility risks and controls
- Support continual improvement in aquatic supervision, emergency preparedness and safe operations
- Identify training and competency priorities for key facility roles
- Stay current with regulatory and standards changes across Australia
- Reduce the likelihood and consequence of aquatic injury and drowning incidents
- Demonstrate a formal, documented risk management process
- Strengthen governance and due diligence for owners and operators
- Support insurance, legal and reputational risk management
- Improve readiness for audits, investigations and post-incident reviews
- Maintain connection with Australia’s peak drowning prevention and water safety organisation
Who the AFSA is for
The AFSA is suitable for local government aquatic facilities, private operators, schools with pools, universities, resorts, health clubs, learn to swim providers and seasonal facilities seeking a trusted assessment of pool safety, compliance and operational risk.
Eligibility
All pools and aquatic facilities are eligible, including public, private, school, university and seasonal facilities.
